Uncertain Conditions

In an era of constant change, architectural projects risk becoming outdated before they are even completed, leaving them unable to adapt to evolving conditions. The increasingly tangible impacts of climate change further diminish the predictability and calculability of future circumstances, particularly due to extreme weather events and climatic tipping points. This module aims to address these uncertainties productively, both conceptually and methodologically, within architectural education. Through collaboration with two labs from environmental sciences, the module explores how perspectives and methods from a systems-thinking approach can be transferred to and applied within architecture to navigate uncertain conditions conceptually. Additionally, an intervention is practically implemented through joint collaboration between students of architecture and environmental sciences. Here, uncertainty is addressed methodologically through a deliberately open-ended task, requiring students to self- manage its progress and organization. To ensure its success, a safe learning environment is established, with close professional guidance from experienced teaching staff and various feedback and review mechanisms. The framework serves as a pilot project for productively merging two scientific approaches—systems thinking and design-based thinking—in a practice-oriented format, where an existing landscaped garden on campus serves as the physical learning environment for the module.

– The development of interdisciplinary competencies as a preparation for addressing cross-disciplinary challenges.
– The practical implementation of a student-led project, fostering social and personal skills such as Adaptability, Flexibility, Creative Thinking and Communication through collaborative group work.
– The exploration of interdisciplinary and structural collaboration between D-ARCH and D-USYS at the levels of professors, academic staff, and students.
– The theoretical and practical comparison of architectural and environmental science concepts and methodologies.
– The promotion of teamwork, collaboration, and co-design skills.
– Learning to navigate challenges in real-time within a physical learning environment.
– Encouraging critical and positive engagement with rapidly changing conditions.
– The exploration of failure as a learning opportunity and the development of strategies for responding to setbacks.
– Gaining experience in understanding diverse impacts of time on the environment.

– At the student level, the proposed format offers new opportunities for exchanging experiences and methods beyond individual disciplines. Particularly through collaborative work in a hands-on project, students can engage in disciplinary exchange while developing teamwork skills in interdisciplinary settings.
– For mid-level faculty, this format provides an opportunity to familiarize themselves with different teaching approaches and associated assessment methods.
– At the institutional level, this approach has the potential to structurally connect course offerings between departments, enabling more effective use of synergies and enrichment of the competencies within each department.